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Even if Woz had found support to build a microcomputer within HP, it almost inevitably would have been watered down or corrupted as some sort of 'design by committee' took over. Sacrifices made to meet budgetary or time constraints, etc. The purity of his vision would have been lost, and the Apple I wouldn't have been an Apple I.

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Apple I was hardly designed by Steve Jobs.

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_I : "They were designed and hand-built by Steve Wozniak"

And From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_II : "designed primarily by Steve Wozniak"

Steve Jobs isn't even in the picture here. Yes he might have sold them.

But that makes him a good salesman, not the one who started "The revolution".

The purity of his vision would have been lost, and the Apple I wouldn't have been an Apple I.

Maybe it would have been better?

Better for whom? HP was an organization designed to make money in a certain way at the time, from certain kinds of customers, and most likely the Apple I's design would have been influenced by that business model (to its detriment, revolution-wise).

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